TopEarth, BottomEarth, MiddleEarth
by FreakyHair
Summary: Arwen and Aragorn broke their troth before he left with the fellowship. Brokenhearted Aragorn gives up the thought of finding love and focuses mainly on his mission to save MiddleEarth from destruction. But a certain blonde demonhunter might come to heal
1. Hedgehogs

**Title:** Top-earth, Bottom-earth, Middle-Earth  
**Author:** FreakyHair  
**Summary:** Arwen and Aragorn broke their troth before he left with the fellowship.Brokenhearted Aragorn gives up the thought of finding love and focuses mainly on his mission to save Middle-Earth from destruction.But a certain blonde demonhunter might come to heal his wounds. Early season 5. Pre- Dracula.  
**Pairing:** Aragorn/Buffy (duh!) and a tiny hint of Buffy/Legolas  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the rights to either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Lord of the Rings.

**

* * *

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**Chapter 1**

__

**Sunnydale**

The vampire growled menacingly att the little blonde.  
She merely smiled at it and then, before it had time to react, she kicked it in the chest.  
The vampire fell to the ground and she swiftly pulled out a stake.  
It couldn´t do anything but watch fearfully and surprised as it moved towards it´s heart, hitting the mark perfectly.

The girl, Buffy, stood up and dusted off her jeans, seeming satisfied with herself.  
"Well, I think that will have to do for tonight", she said out loud.

Then _he _came running. Riley with his tazer gun and protectiveness.

"Buffy, are you all right?" he asked looking around, frantically searching for any sign of hurt on her.  
Buffy sighed, exasparated.  
"Yes, Riley, I´m fine."

She was getting really sick with being looked after all the time. Not only did he have to hang around her whenever she was at home, but he also had to come patrolling with her every night. It was really tiring to have to worry about him getting hurt and even moreso by getting followed around everywhere.

He held up her hand in front of her, giving her a disbelieving look.  
"Is this what you call fine?" he asked.

The hand was covered in blood after a little tumble she took while fighting off a vamp.  
Buffy pulled her arm out of his grip and turned away from him.  
"Look Riley, I´m okay, so why don´t you just give it a rest."  
"Geez, sorry for worrying about you", he said with a slightly hurt tone. "I just want you to be fine."

Buffy turned around again, irritation clear on her face.  
"Well, that´s fine that you want me to be okay, but you´ve been hanging around me every day since we defeated Adam" , she said harshly.  
"THAT´S WHAT A BOYFRIEND DOES!" he yelled at her, annoyed.  
"NO, THAT´S WHAT A STALKER DOES!" she yelled back at him before calming down.

"Riley, I can´t have you hanging around me all the time. I need to have some privacy" , she spoke quietly.  
That left him angry.  
"What, are you saying that you wanna break up with me?"  
Buffy´s eyes widened and she shaked her head wildly.  
"No, No, I didn´t mean...", she trailed off, thinking over it, "Maybe."  
Riley looked disgusted.  
"I don´t believe you. After all that we´ve been through...Y'know what? Fine. It´s over. Our relationship is over."

And with that he stalked away, leaving Buffy with a mixture of relief and sadness.  
It´s over´, she thought. Well, that went fast.´

* * *

_**Middle-Earth**_

Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli watched as the canoe that Boromir lied in slipped over the falls.  
Legolas grabbed another canoe and started to push it into the water.  
"Hurry! Frodo and Sam have reached the eastern shore."

Aragorn didn´t move from his spot. He felt empty after the fall of Boromir, a man who he had actually taken liking to, but who had gotten corrupted by the power of the Ring and killed during the attack of an orch-horde. At least he has peace now,´ he silently comforted himself. But who knew who would die next.  
Legolas looked at him.  
"You mean not to follow them," he said, understanding dawning in his handsome face.  
"Frodo´s fate is no longer in our hands," Aragorn answered him. He was on his own now. No, not on his own. He still has Sam to help him.´ That was good to know, that he would have someone to watch over him, even if it was Samwise Gamgee.  
"Then it has all been in vain! The fellowship has failed," Gimli sighed resigned.

Aragorn put his hands on their shoulders, feeling his hope slowly return to him.  
"Not if we hold true to each other. We will not abandon Merry and Pippin to torment and death. Not while we have strength left. Leave all that can be spared behind. We travel light. Let us hunt some Orc!"

Gimli and Legolas grinned at each other.  
"YES!"

* * *

_**Sunnydale**_

Next morning Buffy walked into Giles apartment, were the Scoobies currently were slacking.  
Willow was surfing on the net while Xander was sitting on the couch with a comicbook in his lap.

He looked up and smiled when she came in.  
"Hey Buffster, what´s up?"

Buffy gave him a little smile.  
"Riley and I broke up."  
His eyes widened at that and he rushed over to her.  
"God, Buffy I´m so sorry. Are you okay?" he asked, concern in his voice.  
"I´m fine, just a little tired I guess," she answered him, still having troubles knowing if she should be feeling sad or happy.

She and Riley had broken up and she knew that it was the right thing to do when she didn´t have any feelings for him whatsoever.  
But that alse left her knowing that she once again was alone and one step further from finding love.

"What happened?" Willow asked, hoping for further information on the breakup so she knew if she would have to turn Riley into a pig for breaking her best friends heart.

Buffy sat down in one of the chairs.  
"I´m not really sure myself. I was just doing patrol in the cemetery last night when Riley showed up, and we just had this huge fight about personal space and, wham, it´s over. Trust me guys, I´m fine," she added when noticing the concerned looks they were giving her. How she hated when everyone did that. Yeah, she had a good cry when she and Angel broke up, but she was eighteen and Angel was her huge love of her life. She was twenty years old now and a lot more mature than she had been then.

Before they could say anymore, Giles walked into the room.  
"Ah, Buffy, there you are. Look what it says in the newspaper."  
He handed over said thing to her and she looked at the front page.

* * *

****

ATTACK AT SUNNYDALE MALL - CUSTOMERS DEAD

Yesterday at the time of 1 P:M there was an attack at the Sunnydale mall. Over 20 people, customers and staffmembers,were killed in the assault. According to eyewittnesses the attackers were hairy all over their bodies with horns portruding from their backs and screaming about some 'amulet of yakkid'. The Sunnydale police is comepletely befuddled aboutthis and anyone who knows anything about these mysterious attackers are encouraged to come to the police stationwith this information.

Police Chief, Roland Johnson: "It´s a terrible deed that...

* * *

Buffy stopped reading. She didn´t have to read anymore to know that whatever this amulet was, it was important to the demons.  
And anything that was important to the demons, was important to keep away from them at all costs.

"So, got any info on these hedgehogs yet, Giles?" Xander asked as he handed back the newspaper to him, he and Willow already having read it over as Buffy had been lost in her own thoughts.

Giles took off his glasses and started to polish them.  
"No, not yet. I´d suggest you grab a book and start researching."  
"Are you sure we can´t just get Spike to sniff 'em up and then let Buffy beat the crap outta them?" Xander asked, hoping to get away from the joy of researching demons and ancient amulets.  
"No Xander, we have to know more about both the amulet and the demons before we go on the offensive."

Buffy sighed, convicting herself to the research mode.  
"As much as I hate to admit it, he does have a point, Xander. I mean, what if these demons are like not killable in the old fashioned way. It wouldn´t be so much of the good if we came in there, loaded with swords and axes, only to find out that it´s not that easy to stop them, and get ourselves killed. Nope, I´d rather spend all day here looking through old, dusty books," she concluded before grabbing the nearest book and opening it.

_Later the same day:_

Buffy swiftly ducked a punch the hairy demon threw at her before swiping it´s legs out from under it. The demon fell to the ground but quickly moved away and, in doing so, avoiding getting beheaded by Buffy´s battleaxe. It got up and sent her flying into a wall. They were fighting in an old warehouse, were the demons currently had their home. All of them were attacking her from all sides and yet she strangely avoided getting hurt.

Buffy threw the demon a glare as she got up and wiped away blood from her bottom-lip.  
"You´re not giving up, are ya?" she asked it and it only growled in return.

She started punching and kicking it visciously, blocking and parrying the thrusts it sent her. Things looked good.

* * *

_**Middle-Earth**_

Aragorn was lying with his ear pressed against the ground, listening intently.  
"Their pace has quickened." He looked up at Gimli and Legolas.  
"They´ve must have caught our scent. Hurry!"  
And with that he ran off in the direction in which the orcs had gone, leaving the others to follow.

"Come on, Gimli!" Legolas called before running after the king-to-be  
"Three days and nights pursuit. No food. No rest. And no sign of our quarry but what a bare rock can tell," Gimli grumbled as he ran the fastest he could( which wasn´t so fast) after his companions.Oh, how he sometimes hated to be a dwarf. Even though he could be very dangerous in battle, traveling at foot was not his strength. Why those damned hobbits had to get themselves captured by the orcs was beyond him. Foolish halflings!

* * *

_**Sunnydale**_

"Oh, Giles, found something!"  
Everyone walked over to Willow, wondering what piece of information they had just percieved.

"The amulet of Jah-Cyhd were created for hundreds of years ago by a sorcerer who wished to travel in time. With this he wanted to change history and take over the world. But since it only worked during full moon he had to wait, and during his waiting, bandits attacked the village he was living in and killed everyone in it, including the wizard. In the attack, the amulet was lost and never to be found again."

Dead silence.

"Well, isn´t that good then? I mean the amulet´s gone so why worry?" Xander asked, not really being smart.  
Giles sighed wearily .  
"Because the demons somehow thinks that the amulet is currently in Sunnydale, and the slaughter at the mall proves that they will kill as many as they need to find it. It doesn´t matter if it´s here or not, because we still need to kill them if we don´t want anymore people to die."

Willow looked at Giles , face serious.

"Their gonna try to open a portal tomorrow night. It only works during the full moon, so that´s when it´s gonna happen. Giles, if we don´t stop them they might do something as horrible as changing history."  
Giles took of his glasses and started cleaning them.  
"I just hope Buffy will be alright."

He knew that Buffy was adaptive enough to survive and kill these demons, but part of him still worried about the girl he had come to love as a daughter. She was strong and clever in battle and could surely handle herself, but she wasn´t invincible. Hopefully she would get her hands on the amulet before the demons did. But why did he have such a nagging feeling that something might soon go wrong?

* * *

Buffy ran from the hairy demons, limping slightly.  
"Ooh, not good," she told herself as she cut a corner, hoping to outrun them. But to her disappointment, they still kept gaining at her.  
Man, these things run fast!´ she thought, running at slayerspeed towards one of the crypts in the cemetery. Barging in, she shut the door as quickly as possible.

Scratching and pounding, the demons hoped to get in. But unfortunatly for them, the door didn´t budge.  
They continued with their pounding for half an hour before finally giving up and leaving. For the first time in a long while, Buffy breathed out. Thank God for graverobber-secure cryptdoors.

But her good mood seemed to vanish quickly when she heard a voice.  
"My, my, a slayer coming to visit her dear old archenemy. What do you want, luv?"

God, not him!´

Blowing away a strand from her face, she answered.  
"Well, a long life with lots of luvin´ would be really fun, but right now I´m thinking 'keeping my life' is suitable."  
Spike only smirked at her.  
"I got chased by some demons and I needed somewhere that is demon-proof. But it seems that such place doesn´t exist," she told him before sitting down at a sacrophagus.  
"You know, you could have helped out a little."  
He leaned against a wall and lighted a cigarette, ignoring her comment.  
"So what have you done now to upset 'em, 'cause they were pounding just a _little_ to long to be one of your nightly victims."  
"Well, there is this amulet and...," she started but cut herself off, frowning. "Care to remind me why I´m talking to you?"  
"Well, because it was my home that you actually came barging in to and therefore you owe me an explanation as to why," he stated matter-of-factedly.  
Buffy got up and started walking towards the door.

"Slayer, wait."

She turned around, eyeing him expectantly. Geez, why do I listen to him?´  
"Need help?"  
She rolled her eyes before turning around again.  
"Goodbye Spike," she said and the door slammed shut.

Spike only stood there staring after her. Need help? Now where in the bloody hell did that come from?´  
The insult that he´d been planning to give her got changed into 'Need help?'.  
"Oh, bloody hell I´m going soft," he muttered to himself. The Big Bad was turning into the Great Good.

* * *

"BEEP BEEP BEEP"

Buffy groaned and rolled over in her bed, still in a slightly dazed state. The alarm clock continued with it´s beeping for a while until Buffy finally reached up and smashed it so hard that it broke. Lying in the bed she looked up at the ceiling, not yet wanting to get up from her warm and comfy bed. She realised that it had been a while since she actually felt this relaxed, her slaying and school had kinda made sure of it. And it was actually the first time in a long while that she had woken up alone, not with Riley by her side.

Riley.

She knew that it had been the right thing to do, but somehow she couldn´t stop thinking over it. Why had they broken up? Why had the feelings that she once thought she had, gone away and left an empty space in her heart, still needing to be filled? Why couldn´t life just be easy, why did everything have to be so hard?

Her questions was many to be answered and she didn´t know how to move on, now that she finally was free from the troubles of a relationship.

She held up her hand, looking at it in the sunlight. Not a single scar to be seen, all thanks to her slayer healing. The nails was long and painted in a slight greenish color, perfectly polished and shining. Nobody would guess that this hand had ever held a weapon upon a look at it.

To everyone else she was Buffy Summers, the blonde airhead from California, shallow and bitchy. She had once been exactly like that; the popular girl who only cared about her looks and boys, and who looked down on people who didn´t dress right or act right. People still thought about her like that, but they didn´t know her good enough to know that she wasn´t anything like she used to be.

Getting up she walked over to her mirror. The girl who stared back was only nineteen years old with long blonde hair falling to her shoulders. Hazel eyes set in a tanned, heartshaped face. Yes, she was quite beautiful, even when she was standing there with ruffled hair and PJs and no makeup on her face. But if you would look deep into her eyes, you would see the pain hidden deep beneath a surface of indifference, beneath the happy smile that always covered her face whenever she was talking to her friends.

She wasn´t happy here, and the friendship that she had once had felt with Xander, Willow and Giles, was gone, replaced with falseness and sweet lies. Her friends wasn´t her friends anymore, and the only reason they stayed with her was because of their duty, no, _her_ duty. They wanted to help the world, that much she knew, but the closeness they had then, in highschool, was forever lost. What only remained was the memories of what was.

* * *

Once again Buffy came walking into Giles apartment, but this time in a slightly bruised state.  
The second she entered, she was swimming in an ocean of questions.

"Did you find the amulet?"  
"Are the demons dead yet?"  
"Are you all right?"  
"Did you bring any doughnuts?"

Everybody turned their incredulous gazes at Xander who asked that last question.  
"What?" He held up his hands in defense. "I forgot to buy any myself."  
Buffy only rolled her eyes.

"Did you slay the demons?" Giles asked her once again.  
Buffy ran a hand through her hair. Whoa, shower very much needed!´  
"Couple of them, but they were so many that I don´t think it matters that much. I had to make a run for it. Although, I don´t think they have found the amulet yet."  
"Well, that´s always something. Hopefully, the demons will give up and leave," Xander said before plopping down on the couch.

Buffy looked questionly on Giles.

"Have you found anything yet?" she asked him.  
"Ah, yes," he said and took of his glasses and started to clean them(yes, once again) before continuing. "Apparantly a couple of hundred years ago, a wizard created the amulet of Jah-Cyhd which granted acess to travel in time, but got killed before he ever could use it. We think that the demons is searching after it so that they can change history into something less good."  
"It only works during the full moon, which is tomorrow, so we need to kill them before that or at least steal it until the moon has passed," Willow continued for him.

"So you think that their gonna make their move tomorrow?" Buffy asked.  
"If they find the amulet, then yes," Giles answered her and put his glasses back on his face.

Buffy sat down next to Xander on the couch. She still was a little sore after the fight yesterday.  
"Odds are that they´re gonna find it, with thespeed their keeping."

* * *

And Buffy didn´t know how right she was, because deep down in the earth in one of the many tunnels in Sunnydale, the demons had found what they were looking for. 

A small hairy demon walked up to it´s master and handed the precious amulet to him.  
"Look, master, what we found. The amulet of time travelling," it hissed to him.  
The larger and much more scary demon smiled evily as it looked at the purple stone in his hairy palm.  
"Yes, well done my servant. Tonight, we will use this and rule the world!"

* * *

That night, the Scooby Gang grabbed all of their weapons and headed to the warehouse were the demons lived and therefore would probably use the amulet there, and prepared themselves for a tough battle.  
After showering, Buffy tried to reach Riley, only to find him not answering the phone. He was probably still angry at her and Buffy decided not to bother him. It wasn´t like he was very much needed or anything.

Standing outside the warehouse they had a last quiet talk before making the move.

"So, what´s the plan Buff?", Xander managed to say without hacking his teeth. It was pretty cold that night in Sunnydale, so cold you would almost expect it to start snowing any second.  
"Th-There is no plan. O-Only t-to kill as m-many demons as possible," she stuttered. Why couldn´t her slayer powers include resistance for chill.  
"W-Well, don´t y-you think we sh-should go in?" he asked, giving her a loopsided grin, which was kinda stiff and forced.  
Buffy listened for a second before answering.  
"Yeah, let´s g-go get them."

She kicked in the door and walked inside, the others following closely.  
The demons had stopped doing whatever they were doing to stare at the intruders.

"Hi, I got your invitation and I figured it couldn´t hurt to bring some friends with me. I´m not late am I?"

And with those words, Hell went loose.

* * *

Authors note: Okay, so that was the first chapter. I would really appreciate it if you would review and tell me what you think of it so far and ifi should continue writing this story. Feel free to come with suggestions about what should happen in the story, I always appreciate that when I get a shutdown. The chapters will probably get longer and longer when I finally get really started with the whole writing. And by the way, I´m sorry that you didn´t get to read that much about Aragorn, or get any info on the breakup between him and Arwen. Maybe there will be more of that in the next chapter, but don´t get your hopes up.


	2. Really Hot Elves

**Title:** Top-earth, Bottom-earth, Middle-Earth  
**Author:** FreakyHair  
**Summary:** Arwen and Aragorn broke their troth before he left with the fellowship.Brokenhearted Aragorn gives up the thought of finding love and focuses mainly on his mission to save Middle-Earth from destruction.But a certain blonde demonhunter might come to heal his wounds. Early season 5. Pre- Dracula.  
**Pairing:** Aragorn/Buffy (duh!) and a tiny hint of Buffy/Legolas  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Lord of the Rings. Don´t sue me, since the only things I have in my wallet is spiderweb.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 2**

_**Sunnydale**_

Falling to the ground for the seventh time that night, Buffy started to regret her plan that involved not having a plan and improvise instead.  
Willow and Tara were throwing spells all over the place, but it was obvious that it was wearing them out.  
Xander did his best to avoid getting killed by the demons and slash with his axe at anything that moved.  
Giles was actually doing rather good, but he too was faced with too many demons to be able to win.  
Anya were still able to hold her own since she´d had a lot of practice on fighting during her time as a vengance demon, but even to her they were too many.

All in all, things did not look good for the good guys.

Getting up she used Xander´s tactic and started to pound on anything that got too near. She closed up her mind and only focused on the battle, hoping to be able to beat them.

"Oi, slayer, mind me joining the party?", shouted Spike over the masses as he snapped a neck at yet another of the hairy creatures. 'Passions' had ended for the night, so he had decided to check up on what the 'living' was doing right now and had ended up here.  
He didn´t know why they were her fighting hordes of hairy buggers, but he didn´t care much about that 'cause -hey- at least he got to kill _something_. Ever since that bloody chip up his brain he hadn´t been able to do anything but watch TV and annoy the hell out of the humans that were making sure that he didn´t starve to death(which he secretly was thankful for) .

Buffy never answered him, she was too busy with killing and not getting killed. But she sure as hell didn´t mind backup right now, even if it was Spike. Truth was, that with Spike as backup they might have had a chance to settle the score.

Then she suddenly heard a cry, one of pain, and her head whipped around in time to see Xander fall to the ground with a big bloody stain on his shirt.  
She lifted her gaze to look at the huge demon standing above her best friend, an evil smile curving it´s lips.  
Anger started building up inside of her, taking over all of her common sense and she threw herself at the demon. She punched, she kicked, she wounded it everywhere she could.

Her attack would certainly have killed a smaller and much more weaker demon, but unfortunatly this was no such. He blocked and he parried, hurting her as much, even more, than she hurted him. He was determined not to let her ruin all of his work, now when he was so close to succeding. She would not get her hands on the amulet of Jah-Cyhd.

But even though it had went fairly well in the beginning of the battle, he was sensing that his minions were loosing and getting fewer. But he also sensed that it was time to start the ritual.

Giving Buffy a backhand so hard that it threw her to the ground, he pulled out a knife and slit it across his palm. He then pulled out the amulet and squesed it hard in the wounded hand. As soon as a drop of blood hit the floor, a portal started opening and grew bigger and bigger for every second.

But just as he was going to step through it, something tackled him and he lost his grip on the amulet, that fell into the portal.

And then the portal closed, leaving the upset demons and the merrier Scoobies. With the last power they manged to gather, they finished off the demons, and the leader, overpowered by the humans, ran out from the warehouse.

Deciding to not follow him, Willow fell down on her knees next to Xander.

"Xander, can you hear me?", she asked him, eyes shiny with tears. She didn´t want to loose her best friend, not now, when things were so good in their lives. He meant more to her than to anyone in their small group, because she had known him almost her entire life and had been the only friend for long. Loosing him would be like living in a world of black and white.

Tara looked at her girlfriend with sad eyes. She knew what Willow felt for the man on the ground, and she knew that if she lost him, then the risk was that Willow would never be the same.

Falling down on her knees next to her unmoving girlfriend, she checked Xander´s pulse.  
"He´s still alive, but rarely. We have to get him to a hospital fast."  
Willow didn´t move.  
"Willow, if we don´t get him to a hospital soon, he´s gonna die," Tara told her, this time almost a desperate tone in her voice.

That seemed to wake her up from whatever daze she had, and she quickly used a levitating spell to lift him from the ground. She started walking slowly and steadily with him floating in front of her, before she breaked into a run, leaving the others behind in the warehouse.

* * *

At the hospital, the gang were waiting restlessly, all of them worried about Xander.  
Anya were franitcally pacing and talking nonsense, whilst Giles only words were "Dear Lord".  
Spike was just leaning against a wall with a cigarette in his hand, looking casual and bored.  
Tara were sitting next to Willow, who had been awfully quiet and non-responsive.  
She seemed to be getting worse every minute that passed, and Tara was getting quite worried about her. It would have been much more easier if she would just scream and yell instead of this dead silence.

Tara still wasn´t really one of the gang, but she had liked Xander a lot. He just seemed to be the relaxed one in the gang, always coming with witty remarks and sarcasm when it was the most needed.  
With the stuff they put up with almost every single day, the danger they were in, someone like Xander was really needed.

Like now.

If Xander would have been there, then everyone would be smiling and laughing.  
But then again, Xander wasn´t there, since he was the one getting examined and taken cared of by the doctors.

Anya didn´t know why this had happened, or why all of these feelings of grief and worry were taking over her.  
Inside those doors was Xander, unconsious and bloody.  
She hadn´t seen when he had gotten impaled by the demon, nor did she notice when Buffy, blinded by her anger, had attacked the same demon.  
Right then, she had been so concentrated on killing that she didn´t notice anything that had happened to the others. Not until the last demon ran away, and Willow fell down on her knees, not until then, she realised what had happened to her Xander.  
She had just been standing there while Willow and Tara looked over Xander, not believing her eyes.  
There was the man she loved, lying on the ground half-dead.  
Not a word had came out of her mouth then, nor when Willow cast her spell and ran off with him.  
But now when she was here, she finally had gotten her voice back and her ramblings never ended.

Spike didn´t know what to feel. He had hated the whelp, that for sure, but he couldn´t help feeling sad as he looked at the others, whom all were dealing in their own way.  
All of them looked struck and disheartened, but none of them looked like Red, who seemed to have shut down completely. Glinda glanced at her every once in a while, probably trying to figure her out.  
He glanced at a doctor who passed by, wondering why the hell it took so long. What, had someone like fallen asleep in there?

"How is he?"

Giles looked up at the face of Joyce Summers, who had a concerned look over her features. He had called her as soon as they had gotten there, summing up everything in five minutes.  
Xander had been one of the first ones to befriend his slayer when she was new in the town, and because of that he had grown used to him, and actually had taken the same fatherly role for him as he had for Buffy.

Now it felt as though his heart would collapse at any time now, if the doctor didn´t come soon.

"We don´t know yet, but it is rather serious."  
Joyce nodded understandingly.

She was very concerned about this, Xander was a nice kid, one who she liked very much. He was always polite to her whenever he visited with Buffy. And his joy for food was something that she also liked; Buffy always ate minimum portions of food, and therefore had gotten so thin that she almost looked anorectic.  
Of course she liked Willow too, and she loved her daughter, but Xander was something else.  
He wasn´t like those guys that Buffy used to hang with back in LA, no, this one was funny and nice, and actually smart, even though it was well hidden.  
She didn´t want him to die.

With her was Riley, who looked around around a little, but not wanting to say anything.

She wasn´t there, but that wasn´t his business anymore.  
No, he was here for Xander, who had gotten hurt in the battle, fighting bravely. It didn´t matter if she was here or not.

But Joyce seemed to have noticed the same thing as Riley had and looked confused at Giles.  
"Where´s Buffy?"  
Everyone looked around, but there was no Buffy to be seen.

* * *

_FLASHBACK_

_Running at full speed towards the bastard who killed Xander, she hoped to get to him before he got through the portal.  
__Xander had died because of that thing, and she would not let his sacrifice be in vain.  
__Just as the demon was going to step through the portal she tackled him with all her might away from it.  
__To her sucess, he dropped the amulet from the surprise of the impact. _

_But then suddenly she felt a tugging sensation go through her body.  
__And everything, the warehouse, the demons, her friends, all of it, was gone._

* * *

_**Middle-Earth**_

Suddenly a light flashed across the sky.  
All three of them turned around.

"What in Arda was that?" Gimli exclaimed bewildered. Lightning during days as cloudless and sunny as these were not a common thing in Middle-Earth.

The others did not answer him as they ran in the direction from where the light had came.

Jumping up on a stone, Legolas spotted something on the ground.  
"Aragorn, over there!"  
The three cautiosly approached, weapons drawn. As they got close enough to see what it was, they gasped in unison.  
"It´s a woman. But how did she get here?" Gimli wondered aloud.  
Aragorn sheated his sword and bent down next to the unconsious woman, looking over her.

She was blonde, pretty and rather petite, so short you would almost mistake her for a dwarf. She was wearing some strange attire that consisted of blue, tight-fitting trousers and a black tunic that showed off her bare arms, which were filled with cuts and bruises.

"How did she get all of those injuries?" Legolas asked.  
Aragorn shaked his head, tending a cut above her left eyebrow.  
"I don´t know but it looks as though from a knife, or claws."

But before he got any chance to examine it further, the girl suddenly punched him in the nose before jumping up to her feet, backing away from them.

"Okay, question. Who the hell are you and where the heck am I?", she asked them, standing in a fighting stance, ready to defend herself.  
Even though she was pretty sure that the dark-haired guy had only been taking care of her wounds, she didn´t want to take any risks.

Rubbing his nose where her fist had impacted, Aragorn stared incredelously at the short woman that were standing before him.  
She was eyeing them with a suspicious and an almost predatory gleam in her eyes, as if taking their measure. That would actually been quite amusing, since she was a small woman and they were three large men, but the pain in his nosehad put him a little in a bad mood.

He held up his hands to show her his good intentions, because even though they were three adept warriors against her small form, he didn´t wish to recieve her wrath.  
"My lady, we mean no harm to you. We were searching for two friends of our when a strange light flashed across the sky and led us to you. You are in the land of Rohan, the home of the horse lords. Now as to who we are, I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and this is my companions Legolas Greenleaf and Gimli, son of Glóin. You Now who may you be, and how did you come here?"

Buffy´s head were spinning with thoughts. Rohan? Where the hell was Rohan? She hadn´t been paying _that_ much attention during Geography, but she was pretty sure that Rohan didn´t exist on the map.  
She looked at him for a moment before lowering her guard.

"I´m Buffy Summers, and how I got here? Um, I´m not exactly sure about that, but I think it was a portal and- hey, what´s up with your ears?" She looked at Legolas questionly. Was he like one of those weird Spock fans, or something? Yeah, that kinda would make sense; she maybe landed in the middle of one of these goofy roleplays and these guys were still in character.

No, as much as she wished it to be one of those, she knew that it wasn´t.

"I´m an elf," Legolas answered her, feeling confused over her not knowing about the First-Born. Even though the most humans never had met an elf before, they certainly had heard of them and probably knew how to recognise them also.  
"Uh,hu." was the only thing she said about that, doubt clearly showing in her face.  
Before Legolas could start talking about the elves and all of their history, Aragorn intervened.

"You said there was a portal?"

Her head whipped around to lock her hazel eyes with his gray ones and he was surprised by the intensity of them.  
"Yeah, I did," she answered him. "But you guys seems to be in a hurry to fetch your friends. I really don´t wanna slow you down."

Aragorn shaked his head.  
"Nay, we were just about to stop for rest anyway."  
"Yes, it seems that Gimli doesn´t have the stamina of a ranger or an elf," Legolas told her with a smirk.  
At this Gimli spluttered indignantly, growing red with anger.  
"Yeah, I know how you feel. Being short sucks," Buffy said as she patted him on the shoulder.  
At this Legolas laughed.

* * *

Having lit a small fire, the four settled themselves around it.  
Aragorn nodded to Buffy.  
"Now, my lady, would you tell us how you came here?"  
The others nodded eagerly, curious about this woman who had came with the light.  
Buffy wet her lips, not exactly knowing how to explain.

"Um, well, to start with, I came here when I accidentally fell through a portal. There was this demons that were planning to change history and make my world to a much worse place than it is. To be able to do that they needed this amulet of Jah-Cyhd, that you could travel in time with."

_And between dimensions too, it seems,´_ she thought to herself.

"Me and my friends attacked them during this ritual, and then the portal opened. When the leader was going to step through it, I tackled him and fell into the portal," she quickly summed up for them.

She had decided to tell these guys the truth, since they seemed kind trustworthy, that and the fact that she had appeared in a flash of light before them. How else could she explain _that?  
_

Thinking about the battle against those hedgehogs, refreshed her memories about Xander, which sent her immediatly into a bad mood.  
She had been close enough to be able to save him, and yet she hadn´t.  
Nooo, she was so concentrated on saving her own butt that she hadn´t noticed it, before it was too late.

God, what if he was dead because of her?

* * *

_**Sunnydale**_

"What do you mean she´s gone? She can´t just be gone!"

Joyce was furious and she had all the Scoobies backing away in fear. She usually was so calm and serene, so it was quite a change to see this pissed off woman standing before them.  
"I-uhm, well-," Giles stuttered in panic.  
"Where´s my daughter?" Joyce screamed.

Giles thought he was going to die of a heart-attack soon if someone didn´t help him.  
Seeing his need, Willow swallowed nervously before walking forward.  
"She- We don´t know where she is. I mean- She was with us during the fight she couldn´t just have..." Willow trailed off, the horror of what had happened striking them all.

"Oh,Godess," Tara exclaimed silently.  
Joyce´ head snapped to her, trying to bore holes in her with her eyes.  
"What?"  
"She m-must have gotten sucked through th-the portal when she tackled the demon." Tara stuttered a little at the elderly womans penetrating gaze.

Joyce felt her breath getting caught in her throat as tears started to well in her eyes. No, not her baby girl. Not her Buffy. She couldn´t be...

Feeling her legs starting to leave her, she practically fell down on the couch in the waiting room that was empty of people other than the Scoobies.  
Why did always these bad stuff happen to her daughter?

"Where is she now?" she asked in a monotone voice, and Giles, who assumed it was safe enough to talk to her now, sat down next to her in the couch.  
"We don´t know. To be honest, Joyce, she might as well be trapped in a hell demension or God knows where."  
"What are we gonna do, Giles?" Willow asked him.

Her voice had returned the same second that she had acknowledged that Buffy was missing. She was already on the verge of losing Xander, she didn´t want to loose Buffy too.

Giles sighed.  
"I don´t know, Willow. I don´t know."

* * *

_**Middle-Earth**_

"Okay, so we´re looking for two very short rabbits-"  
"Hobbits," Aragorn corrected her.  
"-that´s gotten captured by forks."  
"Orcs."  
"Whatever."

Legolas and Gimli snickered at her and earned themselves a slap at the back of each of their heads, starting a loud argument between them.

Aragorn watched fascinated as his companions and and the woman bickered back and forth. The three of them seemed to have gotten rather close in a short amount of time, while Aragorn still felt as a stranger to this Buffy. It felt strange to see them argue over such ridiculous things in such a serious situation.

She did not seem troubled at all by this new dimension.

After telling them where she came from and getting lots of reassurances that they had never heard of any places called Sunnydale, California or America, she seemed to convict herself to the thought of being trapped in another world. She had even taken it upon her to help them in the search of Merry and Pippin, but Aragorn wasn´t so sure if he liked it. But he hadn´t argued anything yet, since they couldn´t just leave her all alone in the wild. And he did not want a grumpy woman as a company; that he was sure of.

But even though she seemed to be comfortable in the prescense of the elf and the dwarf, she clearly had a longing for the realm which she came from.

Aragorn pitied her; she had told them about how the amulet worked only during the full moon which had passed for not a long while ago, making sure that her stay here would be long if she did not find any other way.  
"Hey, Arg!" Buffy waved her hand in front of his face, interrupting his thoughts.

He shaked his head before looking at her.  
"Yes? What is it, my lady?"  
Buffy shrugged.  
"Well, you kinda have been doing the brooding thing for a little while now. I actually started to think you were dead or something. And you can skip the lady part, I prefer just being called Buffy. Being called lady makes me feel old."  
"You´re maybe not old, but you are definetly wrinkly," Legolas remarked playfully, once again earning himself a slap by Buffy.

She actually liked these chivalrous guys, they were pretty fun to hang with, especially Legolas, who was a major hottie.  
He was so darn pretty that she couldn´t help swooning a little for him.  
I mean come on, he was hot, smart, and funny. How much better could it get?  
He had this long, silky, platinum-blonde hair (no peroxide responsible), and these gorgoues blue eyes that even Spike´s eyes looked dull in comparison. He was like perfect every way, and Buffy couldn´t help glancing his way every now and then.

The others weren´t as interesting to stare at, and although Aragorn was actually quite handsome, all the hair and the dirt kinda made him look like one of those homeless persons that lived on the street. He wasn´t really a talker either, and after various attempts to get to know him better, she had given up and focused on the others.

She didn´t really know if Gimli was good-looking or not, since his beard pretty much covered almost all of his face. But even if he were, she probably wouldn´t wanna hook up with him. She didn´t really feel about him like that , he was more lika a much, much shorter Xander; fun to hang with, but not dating material.

Besides, she wanted her guys tall.

* * *

**Author: **Okay, so that was the second chapter of the story about Buffy in Middle-Earth. I´d like to thank all of my reviewers that´s been kind enough to give me their opinions, and I hope that this chapter will be to their liking. Please review and tell me what you think. Was it bad? Was it good? Should I get banned from writing here ever again?


	3. Rainforests Without Rain

**Title:** Top-earth, Bottom-earth, Middle-Earth  
**Author:** FreakyHair  
**Summary:** Arwen and Aragorn broke their troth before he left with the fellowship.Brokenhearted Aragorn gives up the thought of finding love and focuses mainly on his mission to save Middle-Earth from destruction.  
But a certain blonde demonhunter might come to heal his wounds. Early season 5. Pre- Dracula.  
**Pairing:** Aragorn/Buffy (duh!) and a tiny hint of Buffy/Legolas  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Lord of the Rings. Don´t sue me, since the only things I have in my wallet is spiderweb.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Middle-Earth**_

After they had put out the fire, they set off in a fast pace, not willing to waste any more time when they were so close to find the hobbits.  
Something that befuddled Legolas was the fact that Buffy seemed to keep up with his long legs rather easily, walking by his left side lost in her own thoughts.

With a few looks between Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, it had gotten decided to just walk at a normal pace instead of running as they had done before she came, in order for her to keep up with them.

But the pace had soon gotten faster, as they discovered that she not only was able to keep the same speed as them, but also very endurable and unpatient.  
She had complained that she wanted to get this over with and get a bath, and they couldn´t help but speeding up so the whining could stop.

She was quite a mysterium, this Buffy, and when she had told them about the demons and how she and her friends had fought against them, his curiosity had risen alot.  
How woulda small woman such as herself, be able to fight against demons six times her size and weight?

She hadn´t told them everything, he was aware of that and he was sure of that Aragorn and Gimli also was.

What also was odd, was that when Aragorn later had been offering to see to her wounds, she had only shrugged him off and told him that it would heal.

Looking over at Aragorn who were walking at his right, he saw that a wistful and yet sad expression had taken over his features.

He was probably thinking of Arwen, the beautiful _elleth_(she-elf) which he had been betrothed to, but whom had broken his heart when confessing that she was in love with someone else, someone immortal like herself.  
Although he didn´t know whom exactly this _someone else _was, he had his suspicions.

There had been alot of yelling that night, he had heard alot himself when taking a stroll outside in the gardens.

Aragorn apparently believed that his beloved Undomiel had been lying because of her father who wasn´t to happy with their betrothal, and whom had been trying to break him and Arwen up for a long while.  
When Arwen yet calmly told him that she did not love him, he had gotten angry, called her a wench, and then left her standing alone in the gardens, silent tears streaming down her face.

Although he had apologised the next day to her, there had been an strained tension between them during the days in Imladris, before he left with the fellowship.

And Legolas feared that the friendship that was between the Evenstar and the Heir of Isildur, was forever lost.

* * *

Buffy was bored.

They had been walking for hours now, and still there wasn´t any sign of the guys they were looking for.  
She was starting to get hungry, and her boots weren´t exactly made for walking. But she didn´t show any of it; she would take a break when Legolas did, no sooner.  
She couldn´t start acting like a bitch now, that would totally ruin her chances with Legolas, as he seemed to be the kind of guy that didn´t think whining was a turn on.

Gazing _waaay up_ there, she etched every single detail of his face into her memory, making sure that she would never forget the probably hottest guy ever lived.

His face was currently an impassive mask, all of his features in a relaxed state. The deep blue eyes seemed to be glazed over and he didn´t seem to notice any of the surroundings.

Or that was what she thought before he turned those lovely eyes on her, catching her gaze and giving her a charming smile.

Blushing furiously, Buffy looked down, embarrassed about being caught staring at the tall elf.

_Note to self: Get sneakier.´_

* * *

Aragorn looked annoyed at Buffy and Legolas, as they walked in perfect harmony next to each other.

He had trailed behind a little, wanting to collect his thoughts about Arwen, when he saw it.

Buffy looked up at Legolas with the same look that Aragorn often saw on all women who saw the elven prince. That irritated him alot, the fact that Legolas always seemed to be getting all the attention, even when he did not try.

But looking down on himself, he realised what he must look like himself with dirty and worn out clothes, stubble covering his face, and hair that hadn´t been clean for days.  
Whilst he looked as if he had rolled in the mud, Legolas was as clean as ever.

As Buffy continued her staring, Legolas turned his head and gave her a smile, making the woman grow a deep shade of red and abruptly look away.  
_How is it that they can flirt, even when tidings is so grave?´_, Aragorn thought annoyed at their display.

He and Arwen never did that.

Thinking about Arwen seemed to have a negative effect on him, and he quickly forgot about Buffy and Legolas, as the painful memories of that night came back to him.

_FLASHBACK_

_Aragorn and Arwen were standing atop a bridge in a beautiful garden.  
__Arwen looked softly into his eyes as she spoke.  
__"Renich i lu i erui govannem? (Do you remember when we first met?)"  
__"Nauthannem i ned ol reniannen (I thought i had strayed into a dream)," he answered her lovingly.  
__"Gwenwin in enninath. U-arnech in naeth i si celich (Long years have passed. You did not have the cares you carry now.)," she told him before asking:  
__"Renich i beth i pennen? (Do you remember what I told you?)"  
__"You said you´d bind yourself to me. Forsaking the immortal life of your people," he said in Westron as he ran his fingers over the Evenstar pendant that hung around her neck._

_Arwen looked down, her face grave, yet determined._

_"I will not hold to my word, Aragorn."  
__Aragorn looked shocked at her words.  
__"What are you saying?"  
__Arwen locked her eyes with his.  
__"I will not bind myself to you. The feelings I thought I harbored for you is simply not there. I am not in love with you, but in someone else," she told him as a tear streamed down her face._

_He pulled away from her, not believing what she said.  
__"Is this Elrond´s doing? Has he made you do this?" he asked her, enraged.  
__Arwen shaked her head serenly.  
__"Nay, Aragorn, it is not adar (father) who have made this deciscion for me. It is none but me."  
__"Stop lying to me!" he yelled at her._

_"I thought it beneath you to act like a newborn, and yet here you are, claiming me to lie, when I have always spoken the truth to you!" __Arwen was finally reaching the point to when she would have enough.  
__"I thought it beneath you to act upon your own adar´s will, when you are already over thousands of years old!"  
_

_"This has nothing to do with my adar! I don´t love you, Estel, because I love someone else!" she exclaimed, frustrated.  
__"And who might this someone else be?" Aragorn asked her.  
__"I cannot reveal this to you, Aragorn. Not yet," she spoke softly._

_Aragorn glared at her._

_"I know why. There is none else. Why do you have to lie to me? Why do you... I wish I´d never laid my eyes upon you, you wench," he told her scathingly._

_And with that he turned around and walked away from her, not seeing the elf-maidens eyes fill up with tears.  
__He may have wounded her alot with his harsh words, but she had wounded him far more with breaking their betrothal like this._

Aragorn sighed as he thought of the fool he had made of himself, thinking that Arwen Undomiel would ever lie to him.  
He didn´t know why he had said all of those awful things, but he sure regretted it.

* * *

It was beginning to dawn, when Legolas looked up at the sky.  
"A red sun rises. Blood has been spilled this night."

Buffy looked perplexed at him.  
"How the hell do you know that by just looking at the sky?"

Legolas didn´t answer, as they set off in a half walk-half run.

After running for a while, they started hearing the sound of horses coming their way.  
They all quickly hid behind some boulders, so that they could identify the approaching riders and determine if they were evil or not.

When they got close enough for Aragorn to identify the banners, he stepped out from his hiding and shouted;  
"Riders of Rohan, what news from the Mark?"

The whole group of riders turned around and headed towards them, then surrounding them.  
One guy, which Buffy guessed was the leader, looked suspisciously at them, eyes widening surprised as he saw her.  
"What business does an Elf, a man, a Dwarf and a _woman_ have in the Riddermark? Speak quickly!"  
"Give me your name, Horsemaster, and I shall give you mine," Gimli spoke up challengingly.  
The leader handed his spear to another guy, and got off his horse.  
"I would cut off your head Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground."

Buffy rolled her eyes at the guy. _Geez, testerone overdose, much?´_

Suprising them all, Legolas drew his bow and pointed an arrow at him.  
"You would die before your stroke fell!" he exclaimed fiercily.

Suddenly those spears just felt a _little_ to close for comfort.

A moment passed, and then Aragorn pushed down Legolas arm, and in doing so, making him lower his bow.  
"I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Glóin, Lady Buffyand Legolas of the Woodland realm. We are friends of Rohan and Théoden, your king."  
"Théoden no longer recognizes friend from foe," the leader told them, and then picked off his helmet. "Not even his own kin."

And with those words, the spears got withdrawn, and Buffy felt once again safe.

"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over these lands. My company are those loyal to Rohan. And for that, we are banished," he told them.  
"Well, that sucks."  
The guy looked confused at Buffy before continuing.  
"The White Wizard is cunning. He walks here and there, they say, as an old man, hooded and cloaked. And everywhere his spies slips past our net."

Sensing what the man implied, Aragorn answered him.

"We are not spies. We track a party of Uruk-Hai westward across the plain. They´ve taken two of our friends captive."  
"The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night."  
"But there were two hobbits. Did you see two hobbits with them?" Gimli inquired.  
"They would be small - only children to your eyes," Aragorn explained to them.  
"We left none alive. We piled the carcasses and burned them," the guy said and pointed to a smoking pile in the distance.  
Gimli looked disheartened.  
"Dead?"  
The guy nodded.  
"I am sorry."

The guy turned and whistled.  
"Hasufel! Arod!" Two horses walked up.

"May these horses bear you to better fortune than their former masters. Farewell," the guy told them and then climbed up his own horse.  
"Will you come with us, my lady?" he asked Buffy.

Sheshaked her head.  
"Nah, I´m going with these guys. Keep them from getting killed y' know."

The guy nodded, although he didn´t really understand this womans behavior. A proper lady would never go on a search such as this without a large amount of warriors to protect her.

"Look for your friends. But do not trust to hope, it has forsaken these lands."  
Then he yelled to his riders.  
"We ride north!"  
And off they were.

_**Sunnydale**_

Everyone was gathered in Giles apartment, hoping to find any way the bring Buffy back to them.  
They had left the hospital after getting the diagnosis on Xander´s case. He was going to be fine and his state was currently stable.  
Riley and Spike had gone back to the warehouse to look for clues, and Giles, Joyce, Willow and Anya were looking through various books that might be able to help them.

But as time passed by and there were still no signs of Buffy, the Scoobies were starting to lose hope.

Riley and Spike came walking in through the door.  
At Giles' inquiring look, Spike gave a slight shake of his head.  
They hadn´t found anything.

Giles felt that little sparkle of hope that had awakened when they came in, disappear.  
What had happened?  
Where was she?  
Images were swirling around in his head of what could have happened with Buffy, all of them making him shudder.

He looked over at Joyce, currently sleeping with her head on the table.  
_Poor woman,´ _he thought _she must have gotten so tired by worrying about her lost daughter, that she has fallen asleep.´_

"Giles," a voice suddenly said behind him, making him slightly jump.  
He turned and looked at the weary face of Willow Rosenberg. The girl had lost her two best friends in a matter of 24 hours, he was actually amazed that she still hadn´t shed a single tear.  
"Yes?"

"Well, I think...maybe we should call Angel, y' know, see if he can help us," the girl said, fidgeting slightly.  
"Willow, as much as I would like to, I don´t think that this matter concerns him."

"IT DAMN WELL DOES!" Willow yelled at him, surprising them all, and waking Joyce.

"Buffy´s gone, we´re gonna need all help we can get to solve this," she then said in a much calmer voice. "Besides, why wouldn´t Angel be concerned? After all, he is hopelessly in love with her."

Giles looked at her face for a moment, before turning around and walking to the phone.

_**Middle-Earth**_

Gimli spitted out the dark liquid.  
"Ptui! Orc blood."

They were inside the Fangorn Forest, after searching through the heaps of dead orcs and finding no hobbits. Aragorn had found some tracks in the grass that had led them into the forest.

Buffy´s spider senses were going haywire in there, and she hoped that they would find the hobbits soon so that they could leave.

"These are strange tracks," Aragorn said as he looked at the ground.  
"The air is so close in here," Gimli commented.  
"Like a damn rainforest, 'cept with less rain and less monkeys."

Legolas looked around.  
"This forest is old. Very old. Full of memory... and anger."

_Well, that´s interesting,´ _Buffy thought wryly.

Then she suddenly heard loud rumblings coming through the forest and immediatly shifted into a battle-stance. Gimli did the same and raised his axe.

"The trees are speaking to each other."  
"The trees can speak?" Buffy asked Legolas incredulously.  
"They can´t in your dimension?"  
Buffy shaked her head, listening at the rumblings coming from the trees. It almost sounded like they were growling.  
Aragorn seemed to be thinking the same thing as he ushered Gimli to lower his axe.

"Aragorn, nad nâ ennas! (Something´s out there!) ," Legolas whispered to him.  
Aragorn walked up beside Legolas.  
"Man cenich? (What do you see?)"  
Legolas looked around.  
"The White Wizard approaches," he answered.  
"Who is this Wizard guy?" Buffy asked, who had came up beside them.  
"Buffy, not now," Aragorn only said.

Everyone readied themselves for an attack.  
Legolas had borrowed her one of his twin daggers earlier during the day, so that she wouldn´t be defenceless.  
"We must be quick," Aragorn told them.

With a yell the four of them drew their weapons and turned around quickly.  
Legolas' arrow and Gimli´s axe got deflected and Buffy and Aragorn dropped their weapons as they got to hot to grasp.

A light emmanated from the figure that was so bright that they had to shield their eyes from it.  
"You are tracking the footsteps of two young hobbits," the figure told them.  
"Where are they?" Aragorn asked.  
"They passed this way the day before yesterday. They met someone they did not expect. Does that comfort you?"  
Aragorn looked confused at the figure.  
"Who are you? Show yourself!"  
"Yeah, turn off the light!" Buffy said.

* * *

The bright lights dimmed and revealed an old man, all dressed in white and with a long white beard.  
Aragorn gasped. Gandalf!  
Both Legolas and Gimli bowed.

Buffy looked confused at the others.  
"You know this guy?"  
"He was one of the members of the fellowship, and a great wizard," Legolas answered her, making her look even more confused.  
"Fellowship?"

"It cannor be. You fell," Aragorn said astounded.

"Through fire and water. From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak, I fought with the Balrog of Morgoth," Gandalf told them. "Until at last, I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside. Darkness took me. And I strayed out of thought and time. Stars wheeled overhead and every day was as long as a life-age of the earth. But it was not the end. I felt life in me again. I´ve been sent back until my task is done."

"Gandalf!" Aragorn exclaimed, his doubts about the old man standing before him cleared.  
"Gandalf? Yes... that´s what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey. That was my name." He smiled wistfully.  
"Gandalf!" Gimli seemed as overjoyed as the other two.  
"I am Gandalf the White," Gandalf told them, making Aragorn grin and Buffy roll her eyes. "And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide."

* * *

Gandalf were leading the way through the forest.  
"One stage of your journey is over, another begins. War has come to Rohan. We must ride to Edoras with all speed," he told them as they walked out from Fangorn.

He whistled piercingly through the air and soon a beautiful, white horse came galloping.  
"That is one of the _Mearas_, unless my eyes are cheated by some spell," Legolas said in awe.  
"Shadowfax," Gandalf told them. "He´s the lord of all horses and he´s been my friend through many dangers."  
"Pretty," Buffy commented.  
Gandalf smiled at her before mounting Shadowfax.  
"Mount your horses, we have a long ride ahead of us."

"Buffy."  
Buffy turned around to look at Aragorn.  
"What?"  
"You might have to ride in the front this time, if you do not wish to fall off again."  
Gimli and Legolas both snickered, remembering the last ride when Buffy had sat behind Aragorn and kept falling off the horse over and over again.

Buffy leveled each of them with a cold glare before climbing up the horse.

When Aragorn had posistioned himself behind her on the horse, she bent her head backwards so she could look into his eyes.  
"I hate you."  
Aragorn only smiled in return, before urging his horse to follow the others, whom already had set off into the distance.


	4. Broadway

**Title:** Top-earth, Bottom-earth, Middle-Earth  
**Author:** FreakyHair  
**Summary:** Arwen and Aragorn broke their troth before he left with the fellowship. Brokenheartedly Aragorn gives up the thought of finding love and focuses mainly on his mission to save Middle-Earth from destruction. But a certain blonde demon hunter might come to heal his wounds. Early season 5. Pre- Dracula.  
**Pairing:** Aragorn/Buffy (duh!) and a tiny hint of Buffy/Legolas  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Lord of the Rings. Don't sue me, since the only things I have in my wallet is spider web.

* * *

**Chapter 4 **

**_Middle-Earth_**

"You'll find more cheer in a graveyard," Gimli commented as they walked through the small city.  
Everyone was dressed in black and they all were staring at the newcomers in sombre silence.  
Buffy nodded her head.  
"True."

When they reached the Hall guards meet them.  
"I cannot allow you before Théoden King so armed, Gandalf Greyhame. By order of Gríma Wormtongue," one of the guards told them.  
Gandalf nodded and gestured to the others to surrender their weapons.

When the others had removed their weapons, the guard in question looked at Buffy.  
That kinda surprised her. She was a girl and still he thought that she carried weapons. Sure, usually she did but not at that moment.  
She only had to give him a look that asked 'Are you stupid?' to make him turn his eyes upon Gandalf instead.

"Your staff," he said.  
"Hmm?" Gandalf glanced briefly at his staff. "Oh, you would not part an old man from his walking stick?" he asked, looking at Háma innocently.

Háma only hesitated for a second before gesturing for them to follow him.

As they walked after him, Buffy felt someone hooking her arm and glanced at her left side.  
"What are you doing?" she asked.  
"I'm trying to make this look normal," Aragorn answered her calmly.  
"Well, you can knock it off. I'm pretty sure that it can't look normal with my outfit," she snapped and pulled her arm out of his grip.  
Aragorn sighed as he looked over her clothes. She was right, he had never seen a woman in trousers, and he was sure that the people in Rohan never had either.

"The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Théoden King," Gandalf said to the old man on the throne.

He looked really sick. His eyes were all watery and his face was really pale. Buffy had to hide a shudder when she looked at the guy. He reeked of evil and dark magic.

She saw that the others pulled back as Gandalf approached the king and did the same. Gandalf could alone deal with the guy, it was the guards who they needed to watch out for.

"Why should I… welcome you, Gandalf… Stormcrow?" the king asked slowly, as if every word caused him pain.  
"A just question, my liege," a short, pale guy with black, greasy hair said. "Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear. _Lathspell_ I name him. Ill news is an ill guest."  
"Be silent! Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm!" Gandalf said menacingly at Wormtongue and raised his staff.  
Wormtongue backed away while addressing the guards.  
"His staff!" he shouted. "I told you to take the wizard's staff!"

The guards went to attack and Buffy, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas immediately got a lot of work to do.

Gandalf didn't even seem to notice what was going on and just continued to approach the old man.  
"Théoden, son of Thengel, too long have you sat in the shadows."

As Gríma tried to crawl away from the Hall he got pinned to the floor by Gimli.

"Hearken to me! I release you from the spell,"Gandalf said to the king and gestured with his hand.  
But to everyone's surprise, the guy on the throne started to laugh.  
"You have no power here, Gandalf the Grey."

Gandalf threw back his cloak, blinding light coming from him. Théoden got thrown back in his seat.  
"I will draw you, Saruman, as poison is drawn from a wound," Gandalf said and pointed his staff at him.

A young woman rushed in and tried to go to Théoden but got held back by Aragorn, who asked her to wait.  
"If I go, Théoden dies," the figure on the throne said.  
Gandalf pointed his staff at him, throwing him back into his seat again.  
"You did not kill me, you will not kill him!"  
"Rohan is mine!"  
"Be gone!"

Théoden slumped forwards in his chair and the woman ran to him. His face began to change and he suddenly looked a lot younger than before.  
He looked closely at the young woman.  
"I know your face…Eówyn? Eówyn."  
Eówyn started to weep of joy at the King's recognition of her.

"It's rather touching, isn't it?" Legolas commented.  
Buffy smiled as she looked at the scene before them.  
"Yeah, I think I'm going to cry."  
Aragorn patted her sympathetically on the back.

* * *

"They had no warning. They were unarmed. Now the Wildmen are moving through the Westfold, burning as they go. Rick, cot and tree," Eówyn said.

Buffy was sitting next to two kids at the table, talking to them as they ate.  
When Théoden had been visiting the grave of his son Théodred, they came riding on a horse.  
Apparently there had been an attack at their village and they had come here to warn the king.

"Where's mama?" the girl named Freda asked.  
"Don't worry about that, we'll probably find out. Now, eat if you don't want to starve to death," Buffy admonished her.  
The girl picked up her fork again, because dying was certainly not something she wanted to do.

"This is but a taste of the terror that Saruman will unleash. All the more potent for he is driven now by fear of Sauron. Ride out and meet him head on. Draw him away from your women and children. You must fight," Gandalf said to Théoden.  
Aragorn wasn't slow to agree.  
"You have 2000 good men riding north as we speak. Éomer is loyal to you. His men will return and fight for their king."  
"They will be 300 leagues from here by now," Théoden said warily. "Éomer cannot help us. I know what it is you want of me. But I will not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war."  
Gimli took a bite of his bread while watching the exchange.  
"Open war is upon you. Whether you would risk it or not."  
"When I last looked, Théoden, not Aragorn, was king of Rohan," Théoden snapped.

Buffy sighed annoyed at the stubborn king. Geez, could he be more of an idiot? He was practically signing his people's doom here.  
Gimli burped and she rolled her eyes. _Guys. Not the smartest mammals on earth. ´_

"Then what is the king's decision?" Gandalf asked.

* * *

Outside Meduseld the guard from earlier read the king's orders to the people.  
"By order of the king, the city must empty. We make for the refuge of Helm's Deep. Do not burden yourselves with treasure. Take only what provisions you need."

Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas walked towards the stables as people started to collect their things.  
"Helm's Deep! They flee to the mountains when they should stand and fight. Who will defend them if not their king," Gimli ranted furiously.  
"He's only what he thinks is best for his people. Helm's Deep has saved them in the past," Aragorn said as they entered the stables.

"There is no way out of that ravine. Théoden is walking into a trap. He thinks he's leading them to safety. What they will get is a massacre. Théoden has a strong will but I fear for him. I fear for the survival of Rohan. He will need you before the end, Aragorn. The people of Rohan will need you. The defences HAVE to hold," Gandalf urged him.  
"They will hold," Aragorn replied seriously although he seriously doubted his own words.

Gandalf turned to Shadowfax and gently stroked him.  
"The Grey Pilgrim…that's what they used to call me. Three hundred lives of men I've walked this earth and now I have no time. With luck, my search will not be in vain. Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the east."

Aragorn opened the stall gates.  
"Go."

Gandalf mounted his horse and Legolas had to jump back in order to not get stamped down by Shadowfax when he rode out.  
A moment later Buffy arrived.

"Where is he? I didn't miss him did I?" she asked, looking around wildly.  
"I am sorry," Legolas said.  
Buffy sighed.  
"Darn. I really wanted to say goodbye and… What the hell are you smirking for?" she asked Aragorn, annoyed.  
"Your change of attire. It really suits you well," he answered her gesturing at her large clothes.  
"Haha. Mock poor little Buffy, 'cause Eówyn's dresses didn't fit her too well. For your information, buddy, even though I am in a dress, I can still kick your ass to Helm's Deep and back again."  
"If you say so, Buffy."

* * *

They saw Eówyn practising with a sword on her own.  
Her movements were fluid and smooth and Buffy could definitely see some potential there.  
"She's pretty good," she said and turned her head slightly to her right. "Aragorn?"

She looked back to were Eówyn was practising and saw Aragorn walk up to her and blocking one of her parries.  
"You have some skill with a blade," he said.  
She stepped back and sheathed her sword.  
"Women of this country learned long ago that those without swords may still die upon them. I fear neither death nor pain."

_Oh, please, this girl would scream of agony if she just cut herself on a paper.´_

"What do you fear, my lady?"  
"A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valour has gone beyond recall or desire."

Buffy smirked at the girl. Pretty, poetic and skilful enough with a sword, but not quite Aragorn's type. Nope, she was _way_ out of her league.

"You are a daughter of kings, a shieldmaiden of Rohan," he said to her and sheated his dagger. "I do not think that would be your fate."

Way out of her league, right?

He turned and walked away from her and Buffy followed him swiftly.  
When they were out of hearing range Buffy nudged him in the shoulder.

"Okay, now what the hell was that about?" she asked him.  
He only smiled in return and continued to walk.

* * *

They were travelling slowly towards Helm's Deep.  
On the horse that Aragorn led sat Buffy, lost in her own thoughts  
A bit in front of them walked Eówyn, who led another horse on which Gimli sat upon.

"It's true that you don't see many Dwarf women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, haha, that they're often mistaken for Dwarf men," he told her.  
Eówyn looked smiling back at Aragorn, who elaborated in a whisper.  
"It's the beards."  
"And this, in turn, has given rise to the belief that there are no Dwarf women. And the Dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground," Gimli continued, making Eówyn laugh.  
"Which of course is ridiculous…"

Before he could say any more, the horse suddenly galloped away and Gimli fell off after a short distance.  
Eówyn rushed to help him as he struggled to get up.  
"It's alright, it's alright. Nobody panic. That was deliberate. It was deliberate."  
Laughing, Eówyn brushed the dirt off of him and turned her face towards Aragorn.

And he could't stop staring until he heard a cough next to him and turned his gaze to the annoyed face of Buffy.  
"Could you please drool a little more?" she asked sarcastically.  
"Why, are you jealous, Lady Buffy?" he asked.  
"It's just Buffy and besides; Me? Jealous? Why would I be jealous of a wannabe-slayer? Please, name something that she has and I don't."  
"Well, a couple of inches more in length."  
She glared at him.  
"Very funny. Watch me roll on the ground with laughter."

* * *

Later they were still walking and this time Buffy also.

Buffy had this really annoying song by Goo Goo Dolls stuck in her head that didn't want to leave her alone.  
Finally not being able to fight it, she started singing quietly, hoping to not catch anyone's attention.

"_Broadway is dark tonight  
__A little bit weaker than you used to be  
__Broadway is dark tonight  
__See the young man sitting in the old man's bar  
__Waiting for his turn to die_"

But unfortunately for her, Aragorn had excellent hearing.  
"What are you singing?" he asked her.  
"Nothing. Just… a song," she told him.  
"What is it about?"  
"Uhh…Broadway, I guess." She shrugged.  
"What's Broadway?" The questions about something as pointless as a song never ended.  
"Like a city or something, I think."

Before hewas ableask anything more a shout was heard.  
"Wargs!"

_What the hell is a warg? ´ _Buffy wondered.

Aragorn ran to Théoden.  
"Wargs! We are under attack!"

The villagers began to panic.

"Get them out of here!" Aragorn shouted.  
"All riders to the head of the column!" Théoden commanded.

Aragorn ran to Hasufel and found that Buffy already had mounted him.  
"Buffy, you have to get off the horse. We are under attack. "  
"Well, duh, I knew that. And I'm coming with you," she said as if she were stating the obvious.  
"Buffy, you can't fight against vile creatures, they will kill you before you even can blink," Aragorn said, irritated at the girl's naivety.  
"Look, I'm coming with you whether you like it or not." Her gaze never wavered and he realized that he couldn't change her mind, so he just sighed and mounted the horse.

"Don't worry," she said tohim. "I've faced things worse than a couple of overgrown wolves before and survived."

They joined Théoden who gave Buffy a questioning glance, but chose to ignore her for the moment.  
"CHARGE!" he shouted.

And so the battle began.

* * *


End file.
